A green and lively forest, strategic for the environment and also good to taste? Imagine walking in what was once abandoned and uncultivated soil and finding yourself immersed in a luxuriant oasis where each plant has a precise role, where nature works in perfect balance to nourish itself and wildlife with fruits and berries.
This is the world of Food Foresta technique of environmental regeneration adopted by Wownaturean Ethifor | initiative | Valluing Nature, spin-off of the University of Padua and B-Corp certified, which helps citizens, entities and companies to grow new forests and protect existing ones.
Forest foods are not simple green spaces, but forests that contribute to providing nourishment for animals and human beings, also behaving like allies in the fight against the climatic crisis.
A green oasis (to be enjoyed and protected) at the Nord of Milan Park
In 2021 Wownature gave birth to a Food Forest inside the North Park of Milan, a peripheral area transformed into a green lung that extends over 10,000 square meters of forest with water mirrors and tree -lined avenues, where numerous cultural, artistic events also take place and dedicated to sustainability.
In this urban park, 2,000 thoroughly selected plants were planted: fruit trees Like cherries, for wild, hazelnuts and many species of shrubs Like the canine rose, the elderberry and the plum. Here citizens of all ages can discover the properties of the plants, which varieties are better adapted to the Milanese climate and soil and observe the blooms and the formation of the fruits. In short, a real open -air laboratory.
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The Bosco seven skies: a multifunctional forest that nourishes and regenerates
Also in Sicily, on the mountains of Palermo, the Food Forest project is regenerating and changing the landscape. In Altofonte, the Bosco dei Seven Heavens came to life, which stands in a rocky and harsh area, exposed to very high summer temperatures and at high risk of fires.
Food Forest, designed by Collective Rewild Sicily And built together with Wownature, it is rising in the land of the “Dairy of the Scale” farm of Rossella Calascibetta and the difference between the first and the after is tangible. In Bosco dei Seven heaven, 40 different species of trees and shrubs are transforming arid soil into a multifunctional surface: An oasis of biodiversity that offers bird food, pollinating insects and small wild animals.
But what is a food forest? It is a forest created to nourish wildlife and regenerate nature. A system in balance, where each plant has a role and each layer contributes to creating a stable and resistant ecosystem.
The name Bosco dei Sette skies derives from the mountain overlooking the ground, characterized by seven peaks that in ancient times were called “skies”. The number seven is not accidental: it also represents the very structure of Food Forest. This ecosystem is made up of seven layers, or High trees, low trees, bushes, herbaceous plants, matches such as ivy, bulbous, lianose. And everyone performs a precise function.
A superforest that fights the fires
The woods of the seven skies does not produce only food and shelter: It is a superforest designed to resist drought and is able to slow down rural fireswhich especially in summer represent a great threat to Sicily.
In case of bonfires, the shrubbing barrier created along the margins of the Food Forest slows down the advance of the flames, thus offering greater protection.
In addition, the controlled grazing of the goats, which are part of the daily life of the farm, contributes to naturally reduce the presence of the dry grass, further decreasing the risk of fires in the summer months.
Food Forest: intelligent ecosystems at the service of biodiversity
Food Forest is a technique that imitates a natural forest and that stimulates biodiversity: to create one, shrubs, trees and not only are home. Unlike a orchard or vegetable garden, where plants often require fertilizers and frequent irrigations, an edible forest does not need much maintenance; The ecosystem is self -managed, given that each plant “collaborates” with the others.
The result is a forest that protects the soil, retains the water, improves the landscape and becomes a refuge for many life forms. These forests prove to be natural allies against the climatic crisis: the soil is self-confirmed thanks to the fallen leaves and fruits and, thanks to the shade of the hair, remains covered, preventing the loss of water and contrasting erosion. Finally, to draw the benefits of Food Forest are the animals: here pollinators, such as bees, bombs, vesps and butterflies, and other small animals find nourishment and refuge easily.
You also contribute to making the world green (and safe)
The Food Forest project also represents a concrete opportunity for everyone to actively contribute to the regeneration of biodiversity. Wownature offers the possibility of adopt trees and support the development of these superforesia.
Forest food are showing that another way of interacting with nature in an intelligent and functional way (instead of exploiting and impoverishing it) can help us live better and adapt to the challenges related to the climatic crisis.
If you also want to carry on projects like the Bosco Seven skies, go to Wownature.eu to choose a forest and adopt a tree. You can plant it in person, making a concrete gesture for nature, and receive updates on its growth.
From Campo di Corn to Superforesta that filters water for the Po Valley: the extraordinary story of Bosco Rebirth limit
